Will You Catch Me if I Fall?
by OnyxHarmony
Summary: (( This is just a vent fic between Deity and Zane- Deity belongs to me and the particular Zane in this fic belongs to grumpy zane on tumblr. All events are canon and takes place just before season three-after the events of What It Means To Be Human. )) I can't feel anything, Zane. Am I safe for all of you? Will you catch me if I fall off the tightrope?
1. Silent Songs to a Winter Storm

Deity can't sleep again..she slowly opens her tired eyes with a defeated gaze, staring at the alarm clock on Cole's nightstand. The glaring red numbers tell her it's three thirty in the morning..wonderful. She had..maybe a whole hour of sleep in..four hours of being in bed. She'd opted to sleep on the side away from the wall tonight-and she was glad she had. She could hear the gentle snoring of her boyfriend next to her as she slowly sat up in the bed. Flexing her new human looking prosthetic arm and leg-she slowly got off the bed, making sure Cole was still asleep. Glancing at a tiny lavender bag with flower stitching, her mind wandered. Recent events and past ones had taken a toll on her-though she hid it well from her loving boyfriend and her brothers. A mask is a mask, no matter the cracks..or the tape you try and fix it with. She had even seemed to hide it from Zane, her wonderful brother. A painful flash of the droid with a silent scream etched on his face while he coughed oil and synthetic blood onto her entered her mind. Her fault. **Monster. Assassin.** She shakily wipes the tears from her face as they start to spill, grabbing the tiny bag. She can't do this in Cole's room. Then..where..? Carefully tugging her slippers on, she silently walked out of Cole's room and peeked into the hall. It was dark-with maybe a few lamps lit as guidance so no one ran into the walls-and a sign of comfort given by Kai, after the corruption attack in the dark hallway. Another pang of hurt surges into her heart and she grips the tiny bag tighter. Cole had **warned** her. He'd tried his best to warn her before he lunged at her. She shivers and shakes her head, trying to clear her mind as she silently walks down the hallway.

Where can she do this..? It's three thirty in the morning on a Tuesday. Zane will likely be up in thirty minutes-the droid liked to get some laundry done before the sunrise. The gentle glow of the sun rising over the city had become one of Zane's favorite sights..a reminder that his family was alive for another day. She takes a breath, silently slipping into the entertainment room. A bit public, but the bathroom was a dead set target of the droid this early in the morning-he often showered as soon as he woke up. Thinking she locked the door, Deity carefully moves Jay's hoodie off the couch and onto the floor. Huh. He must've stayed up late playing video games and left his hoodie behind. She slowly sits down and tugs the tiny lavender bag open, looking at the razor blades inside. The others don't know about this bag. She's had it since the first corruption attack-she was a little surprised no one had found it. She picks one of the razor blades up, poking the edge and wincing. It's still sharp..good. Looking at her scarred up human arm, she shakes her head. It's a silent whisper that leaves her pale lips in the dark room. "Look at you..survived the lightning but now you're a roadmap of physical scars and heartache.." Carefully gripping the razor blade and slowly dragging the edge across her cream colored skin in a cut deep enough to bleed decently..she winces..but it's only out of reflex. Most of her human arm is scarred and numb from the lightning bolt as a child. She watches the crimson spill over her cream colored skin, and another hateful remark leaves her lips in a shaky whisper. "You can't **feel**." She wipes her eyes, dragging the blade across her skin and watching the blood spill again. And again. She sees no point in doing this to the prosthetic-despite the fact that it looks just as human as the real one. At least ten, deep but not lethal cuts across her wrist begin to bleed further down her arm.

As she slowly turns her blade to her human leg, Deity feels the dark thoughts creeping into her mind from the deepest recesses of the pain in her heart. Dragging the blade across her leg, she goes half lidded in thought. _'Look what you did to Zane. You mauled that man...you stabbed the love of your life. Hypnosis or not, you're a_ _ **monster.**_ _'_ A clear droplet mixes with the crimson running from the leg cut and fades it as it slides down her leg. She's crying, because she thinks these dark thoughts are right. _'Look at your body. Scarred and disgusting. Cole doesn't need you. No one does. You should've died when Cole nearly gutted you during the winter festival. Even corrupted, he doesn't care. He could have anyone. Someone unmarred and lovable.'_ Six cuts in on her leg, she's shaking. Faded red from tears and bloody cuts spills onto the couch she sits on. Maybe she **should** be dead. One less person to worry about. They'd been a solid team before her, right? The pathetic blind baker who..fell in love and gained a family. Shaking, she raises the blade to ruin her arm some more. _'And your soul. Look at it. Filthy, from trauma you_ _ **deserved**_ _. The blood of a killer runs through you. You wanted to kill Cole, didn't you? Make your mama proud?_ ' Six more lines down her pretty-but scarred cream colored skin. The blood stains her arm as she contemplates what suicide would accomplish. A downward slit down her wrist at the radial artery..well placed could-. She's shaken from her bloody trance by a set of cold hands and a panicked gaze.

Zane had smelled the metallic scent of blood as soon as he walked past the entertainment room after his shower. He'd dressed as quickly as possible and run in..and found his beloved little sister like this. She's crying. She's hurting. He'd heard of humans hurting themselves to deal with the pain in their heart..but Deity? She had hidden it so well, he never noticed. But now, he looks at his sobbing sister and her bloody limbs. There were so many cuts..how did this not hurt to her? Zane slowly grips his hand around the bleeding self inflicted wounds on her wrist, trying to do the same to her leg and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. "Deity..what..what happened?" His tone isn't judgemental, nor is it harsh. Sure, he'd freaked out when he first saw her, but he was..mostly calm now. Mostly, because his voice is starting to waver. He's scared for her. When he came in, she had the razor blade positioned over her radial artery. She would've bled out.. is..that what she wanted? He shakes her again, raising a bloody hand to her cheek and carefully wiping the tears spilling down her face. "I.." Deity watches her brother's concerned gaze as she tries to explain. "Zane, it hurts.." He's a little confused. "Y..Your arm? Your leg?" The droid is shakily lifting her bridal style in his arms, carrying her to the medical bay of the ship. She slowly shakes her head, leaning against his shoulder as she's carried. "No..I can't feel there, really..nerve damage from the lightning." Right. He should know that. Zane looks at the misty eyed song elemental and carefully lays her down on a bed, turning to grab some supplies to clean her up. "My heart hurts, Zane." The droid nearly squishes the tube of disinfecting ointment, hearing the pain in his little sister's voice.

"Y..Your heart?" Zane turns around to her, slowly cleaning her arm first. Deity doesn't flinch as she's worked on. "Yes..I..I want it to stop, Zane. It hurts too much.." Zane's breath catches as he's bandaging her. "Come on now.." He sounds as though he may cry. "You..You promised me, didn't you?" The ice elemental's hands still as he looks up at her from tying the bandage shut on her wrist. "Didn't you? You said you'd stay with me. And Cole loves you, Deity." He sighs and looks at his sister as he starts cleaning her leg wounds. "Tell me why your heart hurts so much, Nightingale." Zane begins to bandage the wounds on her leg, only to hear a shaky sob come from his sister. "I..I mean look at me. I'm a roadmap of scars and heartache, and I can't feel anything in most of my body!" She shakes her head, wiping her eyes with her prosthetic arm. "I'm..I'm not paralyzed, just mostly numb in some places.." A shaky breath leaves her as she tries to calm down. "A..and all the things that Cole has done, I deserved-" Zane ties off the bandages on her leg and carefully gets up, taking her hand as he sits beside her in the bed. "No one deserves to be hurt the way the Corruption made him hurt you. Please remember that Cole could not control what he was doing." He carefully strokes her cheek with his other hand, laying down in the bed with her and tugging her close to his chest. He knows she likes the hum of his power source. Deity lays her head close to his heart, shaking her head. "And when I got hypnotized, I hurt you. I became the worst version of my mother. I-" She's starting to cry again, remembering the scared look on Zane and Cole's faces. "I'm sorry, Zane. I..I hurt-"

Zane shushes his sister, calmly rubbing her back. "You were under someone's control. That is **not** who you are, and you know it." He can feel Deity scooting closer and squeezing him, as though she's apologizing. He can't help it..he's starting to cry at the thought of having been one millisecond too late to catch her in the entertainment room. "Deity..don't.." Zane lays his head in her neck and starts to cry, squeezing her close. "Don't you dare leave me!" He's shaking, thinking back to the first time he almost lost her. The two year coma. Deity gently squeezes her brother, rubbing his back. She's crying, too. She'd been so close to ending everything when Zane found her. Clearing her throat, she slowly pulls away from her brother just a little bit. She's trying to find her voice again. "Zane..I uhm.." She has to think about her words carefully, as she's a little weak from her self inflicted harm. The droid wipes his eyes and watches his little sister. "Yes, Deity? What is it..? You know you can tell me anything. I wish you would've told me you were hurting..-" Deity shushes the droid. "Zane, you yourself know that pain is hard to talk about. Despite that, I.." She wipes a synthetic tear that drips down Zane's face. "I wanted to..to say thank you." Deity watches her brother. "I..I was keeping a lot in, and I still am." She looks at her bandaged limbs, shaking her head. "I..I don't..want to look like this. I don't mean Cole's corruption scars. He didn't do it on purpose, I-" She's starting to cry again..now it's Zane's turn to carefully make her look at him. "Deity, I know for a fact that Cole loves you no matter what scars grace your skin." He shakes his head. "Cole is a modest man, and often is too shy to say how he feels. But I know the way he looks at you, sister. He loves you with all his heart."

A slow smile forms on Deity's face. She knows..it's just hard for her to love herself. "Zane..I consider you my best friend and my closest brother. Please, if you're ever struggling..-" Zane shushes his sister. "If I am struggling, I know I can count on you. You are my best friend, too. My little sister. Let us focus on helping you first, hm?" He shakes his head, tugging her back down to his chest. Maybe she can get some sleep, now. He won't carry her back to Cole's room until later, when he can help her explain her wounds. Zane can feel Deity slowly squeezing her arms around him. She seems..scared. He kisses the top of his distressed sister's head, laying his head back on the bed. His eyes are a little heavy..Deity's body is warm, and is slowly lulling him to sleep. It's only four thirty in the morning..he should be awake and doing laundry..but he can let it slide for a few hours. Just for his little sister. Zane murmurs sleepily to Deity as he drifts off, arms protectively around her.

 _ **"Do not worry, Deity. Your big brother will catch you if you fall again."**_


	2. Words Unspoken

Deity slowly slipped out of the ice droid's arms, making sure he was asleep before she carefully left the room. Looking at her bandages on her human leg and her human arm, she grimaced. She'd been so close to-. Deity shakes her head, taking a shaky breath. It..it was okay, wasn't it? She survived..but did she deserve to? Had she truly wanted to be caught? Or had she wanted to just sit alone? Mindlessly walking down the hall, she slowly opens Cole's bedroom door, only to see the earth master about to open it as well. "Deity..you okay? I woke up to get some water and you weren't.." Cole's voice trailed off, as his tired, red eyed gaze drifted to the bandages on her leg and arm. "Deity what.." He carefully took her hand and led her back into the room, shutting the door. "What happened to you? How did you get hurt at almost five in the morning?" Deity shifts her gaze away from Cole as they sit on the bed. "I.." How to explain this? She can feel her throat tighten a little as she tries to swallow the sadness building. "I..I did it." Cole seems to tense. "Wh..What? Deity, why-" Cole slowly lifts her arm up to him and traces his fingers over the bandages. Deity isn't responding to the touch. Not even a _flinch._ Tears well up in her eyes and threaten to spill over as she watches Cole look so confused. "I..I..can't feel that." He tilts his head a little, confused. "What? Did you get a numbing agent for the.. _ **hurt?"**_ He doesn't wanna say what they are-he doesn't want her to feel guilty. That does it. The tears spill over and Deity shakes, a sob finally leaving her. "N..No I just.." She takes a breath to try and calm down-which doesn't work very well.

"Cole, I.." She slowly lifts her head to look up at him. "You know I was hit by lightning when I was small, right?" He nods, examining the bandages on her arm and leg. "Yeah..when you were five, right? What about it?" Deity takes a shaky breath, just letting herself cry a bit. It's good for the body, right? Releases tension and stress? Then why did it hurt? "I..slowly found out after recovering fully that I.." Deity sighs, slowly pulling her arm out of his grasp and taking his hand instead. Ah..her hand and foot..and some of her face. The only places she could feel. "I can't feel anything gentle." Cole lifts his head to look at her now. "Gentle? You mean like this?" He gently strokes her cheek. Deity places her synthetic skinned prosthetic hand over his hand, shutting her eyes. "Sort of..? Some of my face has no feeling, but some of it does. I can still blink and talk, but it's the skin..I think the doctor Mistake talked to when I was smaller said the first two layers of skin?" Opening her eyes to watch the master of earth, a pained smile crosses her face. "I can feel in my hand, my foot and most of my face? Like my jawline and stuff." Cole frowns and carefully tugs her a little closer. "Why didn't you say anything? I could've.." She shakes her head. "No, no not even the tea Zane gave me to repair my sight fixed it. I'm stuck like this, I-" Deity shut her eyes. "I'm stuck scarred and battered, but-" Cole cups her cheek in his hand, wiping some of the tears off her scarred cheek.

He knows the worst she was before they met was scarred from the lightning and blind-and this nerve damage. He did the rest to her. "Everyone has scars, Deity. You know looks don't matter too much to me. I mean, you're really pretty..to me at least. All of you is wonderful, y'know? Especially if you can put up with me, and the-" Deity slowly opens her eyes to look at Cole. Her right eye is always a tiny bit brighter than the left, because of what he'd done. Half her body was a reminder of what he'd-. Deity slowly nudges Cole, feeling his thumb absentmindedly trace over the jagged scar on the right side of her face. He's slowly tracing under her eye and down her cheek. "Cole. Hey-" She moves his hand away from her face, and Cole seems to snap from his thoughts. "Huh? Yeah I-" He sighs. "Deity, this..this nerve damage..what can you feel?" She pauses for a moment, thinking. "Pressure. Like..When you hug me.." Her voice begins to break. "O..Or when you're nearly crushing me in the morning from rolling over in your sleep. I know I complain, but I.." She's crying again, watching him. "It's one of the few physical things I can feel in life. And it's keeps me sane. You and Zane keep me stable-as well as Kai and Jay, and Lloyd. I mean all of you are great, but I.." A shaky sob breaks free from her throat. "I couldn't even feel the cuts I was giving myself, Cole..-" Deity can't help it. She needs to vent-to cry and be honest with him. "I..when Zane found me, I had the blade over an artery, I'm sorry..-" Now Cole watches her. "What..? Deity, are you telling me if Zane hadn't walked in, I could've lost you? All of us could've lost you?"

Cole slowly tugs the lavender blanket of theirs around her carefully, tugging her into his arms. Deity shakes and hangs her head. He doesn't yell. Or shake her. Cole just carefully lays her head on his chest, letting her listen to his heartbeat. "Is there a reason why you wanted to leave..? After we'd just.." He takes a shaky breath. "After we'd just gotten you back? Deity I.." He squeezes her, letting her feel some pressure. Cole is silent for a while, until Deity speaks. "Nightmares..Insomnia..being hypnotized and hurting people you care about-" Her voice shakes. "I..I messed your leg up, and I-" She feels Cole squeezing her tighter-but not enough to hurt her bandaged limbs. "You couldn't control it, Deity. I sorta got mad at Zane for letting you get caught, we all did..I-" He slowly looks down at her in the dim light of the room. Cole seems afraid to ask. "Nightmares? About..me?" Deity swallows a little. "I..not exactly." She lets out a shaky breath. "When..I have the nightmares about you, it's not you. I'm stuck in a boat in the middle of a raging black ocean..the tiniest boat.." She shivers a little and shifts, trying to get comfortable in his arms. "There's no land to be seen and in the boat is..you." Cole swallows. "Me? Wh-" Deity continues speaking. "One of you for each attack. Shadowy and glaring at me. One has my arm..another my leg.." She shuts her eyes as she listens to his heartbeat. "Another one has my eye..but the leader..the one in front..is covered in blood. His very presence is cold. He grips me by my abdomen-"

Deity shivers when Cole's hand pulls back and slips under the blanket, carefully holding her side. He's not trying to trigger anything. He's gently rubbing over the side of her shirt, where the nasty claw scar resides underneath. It takes up a decent part of the front of her abdomen, he knows that. "And then what..?" He sounds almost afraid to find out. Deity swallows. "He grips me by the throat and tells me how much he wants to see me crushed and dying by your hand. They all look so much like you..varying degrees of corruption.." Her throat feels tight. Taking a few shaky breaths, she tries to focus on Cole's heartbeat. "He keeps choking me until I think I'll pass out..tips of his clawed hand pressing into my throat-..and then I wake up. But.." She carefully nuzzles into his chest, trying to keep herself calm, and to reassure Cole that she loves him. "They are you, but they aren't you. I know it..it's just the corruption using your body to hurt me and other people." Feeling Cole's free hand slide under her chin and tilt her head upward to look at him, Deity watches the pained red eyes of the tired earth elemental. He sounds apologetic. "D..Deity you know if I wasn't like this, I'd never-" He looks so hurt, watching her in his arms. "Cole.." Deity says, then pauses. "Sure, I'm not okay after all that's happened.. things that happened before I met you, and everything leading up til now..but I know it's not you. Not mentally. You love me." He takes a shaky breath. "Yeah. I do love you, but I don't want you to hate-" Deity slides her hand down inside the blanket to rest over his, the one that's resting over her covered scar. "I will never, ever hate you. Our relationship sounds really bad out of context to other people, but we both know the truth-"

Cole shushes her. "Yeah. The truth that we love each other, and that I'm trying my best for all of you guys, to keep this at bay." Deity wheezes a little when Cole's arms move to hold her tight again. Bear hugs-well, Cole hugs. It's just how he was. But they were her favorite. He keeps his arms around her, laying his head in her neck. "Deity..are the blades you used to..are they gone..?" Cole muffles these words against the nerve damaged skin of her neck, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I..I think so..? If Zane did anything with them, I didn't see.." Cole pauses. "Where is Frosty, anyway..?" Deity sleepily looked at Cole now. "He fell asleep holding me." A soft smile spreads over her face. "He loves his little sister, you know?" Cole slowly puts her head back on his chest and lays his head in her neck, holding her close. "Good. Good. I'm glad he does." Cole's last words as they begin falling asleep, just as the sunrise is peeking through the curtains of their room make her chest ache.

 _ **"Please don't leave us yet."**_


	3. The Things I Fall Into

"Aww..Come on Zareth, tell me what happened!" Danny asked, crossing her arms as they sat on the couch in Dareth's apartment. "How did Zane get in the closet a while ago? It's not like he tied himself up." The fusion slowly opens one eye, taking a breath and letting it out. "Come on Dannygirl, course he didn't tie himself up!" Opening both blue eyes and letting out a chuckle, Zareth took his toothpick from his mouth. "It'd be pretty impressive if he could though.." Looking at the toothpick before putting it back in his mouth, he rolled it to the other side of his mouth and a slow grin spread over his face. "Alright alright, let me tell you about the time I defeated the grumpiest nindroid I ever saw." As Zareth tells his story, he pauses to get up and refill their root beer floats. "-and then I carefully dragged him into a closet, making sure he was comfortable.." He tugs the vanilla ice cream from the freezer, shaking his head. "You know, these are my favorite things, Danny." Zareth can't help but chuckle as he grabs a clean ice cream scooper, and pops the lid off the tub of ice cream. "And you're one of my favorite people to have them with, little sis." He winked at her and turned back to the ice cream. "Alright now, let's get these fixed up and I'll finish my stor-" Zareth's voice leaves the room as he's scooping the ice cream, and a grunt is heard from somewhere. Danny frowns when she hears this, slowly peeking over the couch. "Zareth? Where did-" The blonde droid spies the wavy spot in the floor, getting off the couch and walking over.

"Another rift..?" She rubs her arm, taking a deep breath and holding her nose. Rifts were unpredictable sometimes-so who knows where they'd end up? It could drop them into the middle of the ocean! Danny took a deep breath and jumped into the rift with her eyes shut. She let out a soft squeak when she landed. Well, it wasn't water. Slowly opening her eyes, Danny watched the grin on Zareth's face as he held her after he'd caught her. "What? I'm not gonna let my Dannygirl fall." Zareth chuckled a little and carefully helped her to stand. "Yes, you wouldn't let me fall, but where are we?" Danny looked over the walls of the hallway they'd fallen into. "This..isn't this the Bounty?" Zareth asked, raising an eyebrow. Danny nodded. "Yeah..but we don't know what Bounty. There are so many different Ninjago verses..how do we know where we.." She paused. Zareth was staring off past a nearby wall. "Zareth? What is it?" Danny waves her hand in front of his face. The fusion's face looks...confused. "Danny, Deity has those..prosthetics, right? Which sides?" Danny thinks about it for a second. "Right arm, left leg...why?" Zareth seems to swallow, heading down the hall as fast as his feet can carry him. "Just follow me, babe!" He pauses when Danny finally gets behind him as they approach the door. There are no other heat signatures but this one on the ship. Maybe they were out on recon?

Zareth slowly opens the door and hears Danny gasp behind him when they see just what Zareth was running toward. Deity is passed out in the bathtub, eyes gently closed..but the abnormal source of the lack of body heat was what scared him into running. Deity is bleeding from her wrist..a bit actually. Danny was the first to move past him, pointing at him. "Zareth, give me your shirt, please..she-" Danny doesn't have to tell him twice. He tugs his shirt off, hands it off to Danny and finally steps over, looking over her. He watches Danny locate the exact source of the bleeding and make a makeshift tourniquet, keeping it tight. "Why would.." Zareth is a little confused, but Danny just shakes her head, as if she's telling him she can't answer his question. "You need to pick her up, alright?" Zareth takes a breath and nods, carefully scooping Deity up in his arms bridal style-as Danny puts Deity's arm with the makeshift tourniquet on his shoulder. Danny shakes her head. "We don't have much time to get her treated, Zareth, I-" She watches Zareth staring down the hallway, holding the unconscious song elemental in his arms. "Zareth, what is it?" Zareth chuckles nervously, watching the Zane from this realm. The ice droid is calmly walking down the hall, home from the recon first-he'd beaten the others to the ship...and then he sees it. Is..Is that the fusion from a while ago? A slight feeling of rage bubbles up inside him-which only gets worse when he sees his unconscious, bloody sister in his arms. "You! What are you doing here?! And why is she.." The Ice elemental pauses, his irrationally angry mind coming to a fairly untrue conclusion. "You did this! You let go of her this in-"

Zareth bolts down the hallway with Deity in his arms, and Danny close behind. Time was of the essence, and they had no time for Zane's misplaced anger. Seeing Danny push the door open to the medical bay, he lays Deity down in a bed and watches Danny start to work-but she only knows so much. Luckily, Zane is close behind, ready to scold them again..but he pauses. Zareth is being gentle with Deity..while Danny works to fix the damage. The fusion takes his toothpick from his mouth, pointing it at the ice droid. "You gotta real _short_ fuse, y'know that?" Zane visibly bristles, but then takes a breath, going over to help Danny. "Just..please tell me what happened." As Zane works on his sister with Danny, he visibly shivers when Zareth starts explaining. "You..You found her like this? Was there a sign of struggle?" Zareth sighed and let out a breath, taking his toothpick from his mouth. "Nah..Nah the only struggle me and Dannygirl could see is the one she had with herself.." Once they finally get the wound closed, Danny is curious-mostly out of worry. "Has she done this before..?" Zane pauses, then nods. "I..Yes. A week ago, I found her moments from doing..this." His voice is quiet. "Why would she.." He shuts his eyes for a moment, trying to calm down. Danny carefully checks the IV and other things Deity is connected to. "Was she happy?" She asks, not wanting to pry. Opening his eyes, Zane watches the female droid. "I..thought so. She has a family, and Cole.." Oh man, Cole and the others would be home soon. Danny shakes her head. "Then none of you were the reason. Why don't we ask her when she's awake and clear headed. Only she knows."

Zareth had been particularly quiet while Deity recovered, mostly talking to himself-or rather, the two people he was made up of. Zane-the one in this realm-hadn't let Cole or the others come in here, he hadn't wanted to until she was awake and talking. The fusion watched Deity's face, his own face twisting into a thoughtful expression-but what came out didn't match up with where his line of sight was. "So you fellas think the guy who invented root beer floats is still around?" Silence again. "Dead? Aw man, I guess it was a pretty long time ago, I..-" Zareth loses his train of thought when he hears a soft groan. It hadn't taken Deity too long..maybe seven hours, to wake after Danny and Zane had treated her. The ice droid had given his sister a decent sedative to deal with the pain after the injury and the surgery that followed, so it was no surprise she'd been asleep for a while. "Hey..there's the rockstar. You feelin' any better?" Deity seems to pause, slurring a little and squinting her eyes. She's muttering about it being bright. "Oh uh.." Zareth quickly gets up and turns the main light off for the medical bay, switching on a dim lamp instead. "Is that better? Didn't realize how bright it'd be after you woke up." Deity nods slowly, looking down at her fixed up wrist. She shudders, looking back up to Zareth's face instead. He looks..concerned. She'd met Zareth once-very briefly-and she'd been a little suspicious of him because Zane had been missing.

The fusion scratched his cheek and rolled his toothpick to the other side of his mouth in thought. "Y'know, a lot of people are worried about you, Deity." He scooted his chair a little closer, taking the toothpick from his mouth and watching her. "I'm kinda glad I fell through that rift when I did, I don't think Zane and Cole, or the others would've liked what they saw if I hadn't." Zareth looks down for a moment and toys with the toothpick. "I don't think you would've been alive if I hadn't fallen into the rift, to tell you the truth." Deity doesn't respond to this-she just lets out a shaky breath. Now, he looks up at her. "So what's goin' on here, Rockstar? What caused you to do this? I know it isn't your family that caused it, they're pretty great." He scratched his cheek. "Despite Zane thinking I was the one who beat you up." Deity cracks a smile and lets out a weak chuckle at this, knowing how protective Zane is. Zareth watches her. "Oh that got a smile out of you." Deity shakes her head, and Zareth takes a breath. "Listen, Deity..you don't have to tell me why you did it. But I really think Zane wants to understand. Cole too." Deity audibly swallows, letting out a shaky breath. "Zareth I.." Her gaze lowers to the blanket. "I know I'm loved. It's not them. It's me. I feel..sorta useless. I can't feel any sweet, gentle touch Cole or my brothers give me. I can't sleep most nights, and it gets to the point where I enter a micro sleep..or just pass out."Zareth just nods, listening and waiting until she's finished to talk. "I'm slow sometimes because of my heart-that I can't really help, a natural disaster caused that. You know? I was alone with my thoughts, and the insomnia has been..bad lately. Negative thoughts about everything that's happened...they got the better of me and I.."

Her voice cracks in shame, throat feeling painful as she tries to swallow the urge to cry. He didn't need to see that. Zareth holds up his hand, stopping her for a moment. "Hey..listen Rockstar. It's not healthy to hold all this stuff in. Even I gotta vent sometimes, despite how awesome I am." He shrugs and puts the toothpick back in his mouth. "So go on then, I'll listen." Deity still doesn't look at him..but keeps talking. "I really wanted to leave. Zane wouldn't have to worry so much about me, Cole would-" Her voice breaks and she wipes her eyes with her prosthetic arm-not wanting to aggravate the human one that's wounded. Zareth watches her, concerned. "You really thought you were a burden, huh?" Deity shuts her eyes and just lets the tears spill. Her brain had made her think that-despite what was happening around her. "Aw come on now, Rockstar. Don't cry.." Zareth's voice is soft, as he watches her. "I promise you, you aren't a burden to them. Family isn't usually a burden.." He shakes his head. "Have they ever given you any reason to think so?" She just listens to him. "No..but my brain did." Zareth gently puts his hand on her back, trying to comfort her. He only met her once before this, but he didn't mind helping. "Can you come over here?" Deity asks, opening her eyes to look at Zareth. He slowly moves his hand off her back, but nods and gets out of the chair, heading over to the right side of the bed. "What is it, Deity? You need something?" He sits down on the edge of the bed, watching her carefully. Deity leans forward and puts her prosthetic arm around Zareth, hugging him the best she could. Her voice is shaky and silent as she squeezes him. "Thank you for finding me, Zareth." The fusion takes a breath and slowly wraps his arms around her, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You're welcome, Rockstar. Just don't leave them yet, alright? Pretty sure they need you." He pulls out of the hug as the door to the medical bay opens, and Zane slowly peeks his head in.

"Zareth is she.." He pauses. "She's awake." Zareth chuckles and gets off the edge of the bed, nodding. "Yeah. She is. I think you two have a lot to talk about. You seen Danny around?" Zane rolls his eyes up in thought, as if trying to remember. "She said something about going into town to find some flowers for Deity's table next to the bed in here." Zareth scratched his cheek. "Alright, I better get going to find her then. She doesn't like to be off by herself for too long. Stay alive, Rockstar." As Zareth left the room, Zane slowly closed the door after the fusion was gone, watching his sister. "Deity, I.." He slowly comes over, sitting on the edge of the bed. Deity hesitates before she speaks. "I know. I'm glad he found me, too." Zane takes a breath and tries to calm down. He's not angry. He's worried. "Why?" A one word question. She knows what he's asking. "My brain got the better of me. I'm sorry, Zane I-" Zane just slowly takes her prosthetic hand, holding it in his. "I am aware of the toll mental issues can have on a brain-not just a human one. Do you not remember that I stayed by your side for two years? I still have that nightmare sometimes." Zane gently squeezes her prosthetic hand, smiling sadly to himself. Deity swallows. That's right. Kai said Zane had been so sleep deprived he'd gone into emergency shut down several times. "Zane..-" He slowly looks up at her. "I stayed by your side because you are family. You are my little sister. My..oh..what did Cole call you?" A slow smile spreads over her face. "Your person?" Zane nods, toying with her fingers. "Yes, that. A very strong sibling..and best friend bond, I believe." Deity watches Zane. This man had saved her life. A few times, actually. "Will..you stay with me? Like you promised? Y..You promised, and Cole needs you too, I don't want to lose-" Deity carefully squeezes her brother's hand.

 _ **"I promise."**_


	4. Keep Your Promise

Seven days..it had been seven days since Deity had attempted to..-. Zane took a deep breath and opened the door to his room, heading to the medical bay to speak to his sister, and check the progress of her wound. Cole had poked his head in to check in on Deity occasionally..but he seemed a little scared to speak to her. Fairly understandable..Zane had been scared to talk to Deity at first too.. Many questions had floated around his head that day. Too many. Deity had promised her reasons had nothing to do with any of them. He understood that..perhaps she was a bit overwhelmed with the things life had dealt her. Zane watched Cole heading to the kitchen to eat-and stopped the red eyed earth master. He put his hand on Cole's back. "I know you are worried. But I also know you two still love each other. So please, after I am done speaking with her and checking on her, go speak with her." Cole pauses, then slowly nods. His gruff, still sleepy voice frees from his throat as he looks at Zane. "As long as I still love her, and she still loves me..and..she didn't do this because of me..-" Zane shakes his head. "I can assure you that none of us..or anything we did was the cause." Cole's expression of worry softens a bit, and he nods. "Yeah. Alright. I'll go talk to Songbird when you're done. Just come get me and let me know when." Zane briefly smiles and turns to leave Cole, continuing on his way to the medical bay. He didn't blame Cole for thinking it may have been his fault. Cole hadn't heard anything otherwise.

Zane slowly opens the door to the medical bay, seeing Jay talk about the time he _totally_ beat Kai's high score on Fist to Face 2, and Zane rolled his eyes. "Jay, you did not-" The lightning master was in the middle of telling his tall tale when he turned and pouted at Zane. "It's a story, and-" Deity couldn't help it. She began laughing. Between the serious, stern look on Zane's face-and the pouting one on Jay's, she laughed. "I love you guys..so much." Jay chuckled a little and carefully stood up from the chair by her bed, patting his sister's head. "We love you too, Deity. Trust me. Melody is all yours there, Zane." Jay gave the ice droid a gentle pat on the shoulder as he left the medical bay. " _Chill_ out, Z. She's okay." Zane chuckled weakly at Jay's pun toward his element. "Yes, thank you." He shut the door once Jay was gone, and carefully sat on Deity's bed. He was silent as he examined the stitches on her wrist. "Zane..?" Deity broke the silence, only to see the droid shake, holding her arm carefully. "Zane, what is wrong..?" Zane slowly looks up at his sister. He looks..hurt. Sad..very worried. "Why did you not come talk to me before you did this?" Deity audibly swallows, watching her brother. "Zane I.." She pauses, thinking carefully. This man had saved her life on more than one occasion-and they were fairly attached to each other. Brother and sister. Best friends. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have cried over nearly losing her during the winter festival attack. He wouldn't have had a mental break and nightmares if he wasn't terrified of losing her.

"I didn't want you to worr-" Deity is cut off by a swift but gentle movement as Zane carefully lays her arm down and hugs her. The droid buries his head in his sister's neck and sniffles. "If..If you are gone, who will remind me that I am human?" Not in the flesh and blood sense, Zane knew that..but..-. Deity carefully holds onto Zane with her prosthetic arm. "Humanity is subjective, Zane. You are human in the best sense of the word, and-" Zane squeezes his sister, sniffling again. He just wants her to say it. He wants her to **_always_** be around to remind him. "You are human, Zane." The droid slowly lifts his head, watching his sister with a sad expression. "D..Do you mean it?" Deity frowns, carefully squeezing Zane with her prosthetic arm. "I meant it the first time, and I will always mean it. Nothing will ever change my mind." Zane takes a breath and carefully lets go of her. "Then please..keep your promise. We all need you." He smiles and gestures to her stitched up wound. "You should be able to leave the medical bay tomorrow. No training or missions for a while, though." Deity nods and looks at Zane headed for the door. "Hey-" Deity says, and watches Zane turn around. "I love you, Ice Cube." A smile slowly spreads across Zane's face. "And I love you too, little sister." He pauses. "Nightingale." A nickname only for his usage. Slowly shutting the door behind him as he leaves, he peeks his head into the kitchen to find Cole. "She's ready for you, Cole. Go on." The earth master looks up from munching on a piece of cake, and nods. Zane stays in the kitchen to make lunch for the others as Cole leaves the room.

The master of earth slowly opens the door to the medical bay, seeing his girlfriend lift her head from the book she was reading. No book in particular..just one she'd gotten dropped off about a mermaid in loved with a cursed man. "Cole..?" She's curious. He hasn't come in here before. Cole shuts the door behind himself, sitting down on the edge of her bed. His gaze drifts to the stitches on her wrist and he takes a shaky breath, trying to calm down. Deity knows that look..Zane had a similar one when she'd awakened from her sedation. A look of worry that it might be his fault. "It wasn't you." She takes one of his hands in her prosthetic one. "It was me. My brain got the better of me and I tried to leave." A brief moment of silence follows, and Deity's voice sounds a little pained. Like she's sorry. "You could never be the reason.." She shakes her head and squeezes his hand. "I love you, Cole. I really do. I'm so sorry I tried to-" Deity's words are cut off by Cole's large arms carefully wrapping around her small body. Cole takes a breath and lays his head on top of hers. "I love you too, Deity. Just..please come to one of us next time.." He sounded so..worried. About her. Her hand leaves his and she silently puts her prosthetic arm around him, laying her head on his chest and listening to his heart beat. "I will. I probably still won't sleep a lot, but if I'm really down and out of it, I'll...I'll come talk to you or Zane, or one of the others." Cole leans down and kisses the top of her head, watching her. "Do you promise?" Deity's head slowly tilts up to watch Cole. "I...Yeah. I promise." Cole's worried red eyed gaze keeps it's focus on her face, repeating his question because she hesitated the first time. "Do you promise?" Deity doesn't pause this time. She's so glad Zareth found her before she really passed away. "I promise."

Cole nods and gives her a brief kiss, carefully laying down in the bed. He drapes his arm over her protectively and gives her a gentle squeeze. "Good. Because I.." Cole looks at her as they lay on the bed. "I really don't think I'm ready to lose you yet, Deity." He still remembered the first day they'd met..how she seemed to light up at his voice when she first heard it. She hadn't been able to see him at all. Or the danger he brought..how scary he looked. Deity is absentmindedly toying with Cole's shirt while he's lost in thought. He remembered the hurt and confused look on her face the first time they held hands..she'd been promising to bring a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting the next time she came to visit, and he'd had a flare up. He'd ripped his hands away from her and she'd looked so..sad. Because she didn't understand. That was a little over six and a half years ago. Cole slowly looks down at Deity and gently strokes her cheek. "Hey..why'd you fall for me?" Deity looks confused at the sudden question. "Why I fell.." A brief smile crosses her face. "I fell in love with your voice, first. I'm not sure why, but..it made me feel safe. Despite the warnings about you that Jay and the others gave me." Cole swallows. They'd been warning her? Thanks guys. "And after Zane gave you the tea and you saw me for the first time? Why did you stay?" Deity remembered that day. As her vision began to return and became less blurry, the man she saw didn't look scary. Or monstrous..he looked scared of himself. And broken on the inside. "I stayed because I had already fallen for you by that point...the rest just fell into place. You're wonderful, Cole."

Cole watches her and carefully cups her cheek in his hand. "Even now? Am I so wonderful now?" Deity knows what he's talking about. Her arm..her leg..her eye and the attack that nearly killed her. A slow smile forms across her face. "Yes. You are still as wonderful as the day we met. No matter what you've done or will do to me. I will stay by your side. I will always love you." Cole searches her face for any hesitation or hint of a lie..and can't find any. He leans down and kisses her forehead, pausing and holding it for a brief second. He then moves down and kisses the scar on the right side of her face, and pulls away to look at her. "You're wonderful for being as steadfast and unconditional as you are." His arm carefully slips under her injured one and he tugs her closer to him. Deity slowly lays her head on his chest, just listening to his heartbeat-one of her favorite sounds. It always sounds so steady and strong. "When you find someone who finally makes you feel something, you don't let go of them or throw what you have away. Especially when they aren't the one doing hurting you. Not voluntarily." Cole gives her another squeeze, feeling his eyes getting heavy. Deity lets out a small yawn, getting as comfortable as she can beside Cole. The master of earth looks down at her, a slow smile crossing his face. "Thank you for staying with us." He yawns, laying his head down on the pillow. "Please keep your promise, I don't think we could take-" Deity sleepily pats his chest, hand slipping as she starts to drift off. She always feels so safe being held by him. Or Zane, really. She just loves her family.

 ** _"I will keep my promise."_**


End file.
